it sure killed me (this lady)

THE LADYKILLER
Cee Lo Green

Turns out Cee-Lo Green is the new James Bond. Smooth, suave, one of his kind. Except he knows it’s all a joke, and yet chooses to dive off the deep end. So, actually, that makes him better than James Bond. Plus, he’s got that build - the coupling of a Hummer and a mini-bar - which could give Daniel Craig a run for his money, in its own special way.

But then Cee Lo Green (real name: Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - doesn’t it make him sound like a Dickens hero?) is also the new Michael Jackson. He’s got that streak of genius, both eccentric and independent, and trendsetting. Except his production skills are more enhanced; he knows it’s a smart move to do an album that harks back to forgotten eras for a contemporary audience, and he collaborates with several smart asses. Both displayed prominently on The Lady Killer. A will.i.am version 2.0 of sorts; so, maybe, that makes him better than MJ too then. (No, I did not just say that!).

The album reels you in, hook, line and sinker, bang with The Lady Killer Theme Intro, so deliciously noir, bringing you up close and personal with the ladykiller, a character who parties hard and then ruminates on the drama of life and love, harder. ‘What do I do for a living? I do what I want’, he informs you, and a couple of seconds later, shimmies it up with Bright Lights Bigger City, an ode to weekends across the world (‘Fridays are good, but there’s something about Saturday nights…’), but especially to the drool-worthy photogenic after-hours of NYC. This track simply makes you want to hit the town with Cee Lo Green. Period. The mood shifts instantly with Fuck You!, and what more can you say about this phenomenal track, which melts down the ultimate break-up you never ever get over, down to its basics, all on a catchy-as-hell tune (‘I guess she’s an X-Box and I’m more an Atari’ is my favourite line off this one). And we’re still only warming up. Cee Lo thickens the atmosphere, fleshing out the plotline, song after song, delivering with those super-talented vocal chords each time, which can do nuance and soar above mundane detail, any given day. No One’s Gonna Love You (a Band of Horses cover) rethinks the ballad magnetically, and Bodies has you stepping away from the sound-system just a wee bit {you know how he gets that voice as creepy as creepy can be? Remember Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)}? ‘My love is old fashioned but it still works the way it is’, he claims on Old Fashioned, and though The Lady Killer is definitive of contemporary, Cee Lo stays pure, in an almost old-fashioned sense (since there’s no shred of autotune on any of this). Fool for You, featuring Phillip Bailey, is brilliant brilliant brilliant, the song I find myself returning to ad infinitum (besides Fuck You!), and Please, featuring Selah Sue, plays out the drama of a killer on the prowl, in slow-mo. I predict (urge?) Love Gun (featuring the sexy croon of Lauren Bennett - part Björk, part Portishead, part, well, Sheryl Crow) as the new James Bond movie theme, incidentally. Daniel Craig, practice that pout well, ‘cuz here comes Cee Lo!